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The exhibition at Kata Gård, West Sweden
Kata gård er et besøkssenter plasser over ruinene av Viking kirken
Photo credit: Mårten Bergkvist / Next Skövde

Kata Farm and Varnhem Monastery

Curious about architecture from the Viking Age and medieval period? Discover the remains of an old Viking Age church at Kata Farm and visit the majestic Varnhem Monastery dating back to the 12th century.

Kata Farm is part of Västergötlands Museums and is an information building located above a private church dating back to the Viking Age. The name originates from one of the female skeletons found at the site, named Kata. Visitors are invited to walk around the finds and look at the graves through the glass sections in the floor. Especially Kata's grave with runes engraved in the covering stone. The old church’s crypt still remains and is perhaps Sweden’s oldest preserved room. 

Kata Farm is located behind the Romanesque-Gothic Varnhem monastery erected about a millennium ago. Varnhem was a major spiritual, political, cultural and economic centre in the Middle Ages and several Swedish kings have been buried in the graveyard.  

Kata Farm is only open in the summer, whereas you can visit the church any season.  

Kata Farm, Axevallavägen 10, 532 73 Varnhem 

Varnhem monastery in West Sweden

Varnhem monastery, a medieval church in West Sweden.

Photo: Lukasz Warzecha/Westsweden.com